The present invention relates to a battery connector structure and a battery pack that employ comb-shaped electrodes for use in installing a battery on, for example, a PC (personal computer).
Conventionally, a variety of battery connector structures that employ comb-shaped electrodes for use in installing a battery on a PC are known. A comb-shaped battery connector generally allows for a longer vertical mating length and can be expected to be highly reliable. FIG. 6 shows an example of a battery connector structure that employs conventional comb-shaped electrodes. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a battery connector structure 51 comprises a male connector 53 mounted on a card 52 of a PC body and a female connector 55 mounted on a battery 54.
The male connector 53 then includes comb-shaped electrodes 57 made of metal, for example, with a positioning plate 56 made of plastic, for example. The female connector 55 has slits 58, 59 into which the comb-shaped electrodes 57 and the positioning plate 56 are inserted. The slits 58 are configured to come into contact with the comb-shaped electrodes 57 to make electrical connections with them. The positioning plate 56 is provided to absorb any mechanical shock that may be applied to the comb-shaped electrodes 57 made of metal if any external force such as shock is applied to this battery connector structure 51, thereby preventing the contact from being lost.
The conventional battery connector structure 51 shown in FIG. 6 offers sufficient performance when it is used to install a battery for an ordinary PC or a notebook PC. If the conventional battery connector structure 51 is to be applied to a low-profile notebook PC that is highly demanded in recent years, however, a mating length has to be shortened. Since a housing is thin and easily bent by an applied external force such as shock, the contact may be lost in carrying the PC. In particular, the contact may be lost due to any dislocation in a direction parallel to an electrode surface of the comb-shaped electrodes 57 which results in disengagement, causing the notebook PC to be shutdown in the extreme case.
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a battery connector structure and a battery pack which solve the above-mentioned problem and in which good contact can be maintained even if any external force is applied around the connectors.
The present invention relates to a battery connector structure, including: a male connector having comb-shaped electrodes with a positioning plate; and a female connector having slits into which the comb-shaped electrodes and the positioning plate are inserted to make electrical connections with the comb-shaped electrodes in such a way that the connectors can be connected and disconnected. In this battery connector structure, a projection is provided at the end of the positioning plate and a hollow that accepts the projection is provided in the slit of the female connector. In this arrangement, any dislocation in a direction parallel to an electrode surface of the comb-shaped electrode can be prevented by mating the projection at the end of the positioning plate with the hollow in the slit. Thus, good contact can be maintained even if any external force is applied around the connectors.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the arrangement of the connectors may be such that the male connector is on the PC side and the female connector is on the battery side. The positioning plate having the projection may be provided at an asymmetrical position with respect to an electrode array of the comb-shaped electrodes. Preferably, good contact can be further maintained in any case.
In addition, a battery pack of the present invention has a female connector having slits into which the comb-shaped electrodes and positioning plate of a male connector are inserted and a hollow that accommodates a projection of the positioning plate. The hollow may be either formed in the body of the battery pack or in the slit of the female connector. This battery pack has the above-mentioned battery connector structure so that it can maintain as good contact as in the battery connector structure.